Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
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Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Wardens
Air Raid Wardens were usually the first people to respond to a bomb and played a vital role in dealing with their aftermath. Lucy Noakes explains that wardens had to ‘be willing to risk their life in defence of their family, their community and their nation’ (Noakes, 2012, p. 735).
There were over 4,000 wardens on duty during the Leeds raid. Four of these wardens were four were killed and another seven were injured during the night.
Here are the stories of two of them.
John Wilson was born on 23 December 1892 and lived at Brooklyn Place in Armley. He was a railway foreman who volunteered as an ARP warden and was on duty during the Leeds raid. His status as a hero came when he saved others from a direct hit on Leeds City Museum.
Wilson was interviewed by the Yorkshire Evening Post after the raid and recounted what had happened. He explained that he was ‘saved by his steel helmet, and by a door which was blown on top of him’. He escaped with only ‘minor hurts’ (Yorkshire Evening Post, 1941).
The blast from the bomb which hit the museum caused extensive damage and was big enough to damage a bank and a large store on the opposite side of the street. Wilson’s bravery was shown in the aftermath of the raid when he managed not only to free himself, but to rescue others from the debris.
The newspaper reported that Wilson freed a fire watcher called Tom Dean who had been trapped under heavy debris following the collapse of the museum’s first floor. Working in almost complete darkness, Wilson dug through the rubble when he heard voices in the trapped areas. His actions showed that he was willing to risk his own life to help others.
The damage to the museum is covered in more detail in the ‘morale’ section.
Marjorie Tobin was born on 3 May 1908 and lived at Warwick Place in Little Woodhouse (now the site of the Clarendon Wing of Leeds General Infirmary). The 1939 Civilian Register records that she had signed up as an Air Raid Warden before the war alongside her housemate Lillian Dungate.
Women had been specially targeted by recruitment campaigns and the wardens service was ‘the most active and obviously helpful civil defence occupation open to women’ (Noakes, 2012, p. 750). On the 14 March 1941, Tobin began her regular night shift in Leeds city centre. As the bombs started to fall, Tobin acted as an improvised messenger “crossing the centre of the town several times while the raid was at its height” (Yorkshire Post, 1941).
Newspaper articles at the time show how Tobin and other wardens were celebrated as heroes after the raid. Leeds’s head warden spoke highly of the women. ‘The women were excellent’ he claimed, ‘They did not hesitate to go out … in spite of all that was going on all around them’ (Yorkshire Post, 1941).
Tobin told the reporters that she did not feel any fear as she was focused on the job. She was photographed for the newspaper wearing her uniform.
Leeds Museums and Galleries have ARP badges like this in their collection. This includes a pair of badges owned by Barbara and Jack Snowie, a married couple who worked together as Air Raid Wardens in Roundhay. The badges were given to Wardens once they had passed their basic training and are symbolic of Blitz heroism. (Image © IWM INS 4782)
